Vacant Properties
Tear It Down and They Will Come?
There's a rationale for the demolition of vacant properties in cities like Chicago, but does that mean the city should be celebrating these programs? The planning of shrinking cities, it turns out, is still very much a work in progress.
Federal Agencies Investigating the Rising Costs of Detroit's Blight Program
Detroit's aggressive blight reduction strategy, to demolish vacant homes by the thousands, is coming under scrutiny for rising costs. The FBI and the U.S. Inspector General are investigating.
Two Rustbelt Cities Take Similar Tacks to Future Planning
Erie, Pennsylvania and Canton, Ohio have faced the challenges of shrinking populations and fewer job prospects, but new comprehensive plans in each city may provide a pathway to resurgence
Evansville, Indiana Looking to Land Bank to Solve Blight Problem
The city of Evansville will consider in the coming weeks a proposal to empower its land bank to take title and demolish roughly 200 properties. A recent report paid for by the city only bolsters the argument in favor of the action.
South Bend Reactivating Vacant Lots
Formerly vacant homes are now vacant lots in South Bend, Indiana. Returning the lots to productive uses presents a new kind of challenge for community groups and local officials.
This Valentine's Day, Celebrate Neighborhood Revitalization With #LoveThatLot
The #LoveThatLot campaign is the Center for Community progress' way of celebrating the hard work of transforming vacant, blighted properties into neighborhood assets and amenities.
Proposed Blight Solution: Shift Subsidies from Rent to Ownership
Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto thinks Section 8 housing subsidies could get two birds with one stone: help low-income households find affordable housing and reduce blight.
$700 Million in Demolitions and Redevelopment Announced for Baltimore
The state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore are partnering on a massive redevelopment effort.
Habitat for Humanity Building Revitalized Neighborhoods
Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity has already been hard at work renovating homes and improving communities, with an ambitious goal to renovate 100 more homes in the next three years.
Detroit Receives Funding for Another Demolition Push
A recent influx of money to Detroit for demolitions of abandoned properties brings the city's total to $107 million. That money has established Detroit as the country's proving ground for the idea that demolitions stabilize struggling neighborhoods.
Memphis Tells Residents: If You Mow It You Can Own It
Residents who put in the effort of maintaining vacant property will have their hard work rewarded and will be offered the opportunity to purchase the property.
Advice for Newly Elected Officials About Vacant and Abandoned Properties
A few words to live by for elected officials in communities working to transform vacant and abandoned properties into valued, productive uses.
New Releases: A Field Guide for Transforming Vacant Lots
Detroit Future City has released a guidebook for the process of redeveloping, renovating, and remediating neighborhoods full of vacant and blighted properties.
Innovation in Detroit Turns to the Worm
Faced with an estimated 24 square miles of vacant land, Detroit is turning its empty lots into test beds of urban innovation.
Op-Ed: Maryland Should Support Baltimore with Money, Not Bulldozers
A response to the conventional thinking about demolitions as the antidote to blighted, vacant properties and the negative effects that follow.
Vacant Properties Persist in Cuyahoga County—and Not Just in Cleveland
Cleveland.com provides in-depth analysis of the ongoing challenge to account for and improve the large number of vacant properties in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
To Auction or Not? Philadelphia Proceeds with Tax Lien Auction Despite Criticism
In an ongoing effort to turn around its stock of vacant, tax delinquent properties, the city of Philadelphia will send some 1,400 liens to auction.
Detroit's Vacant Properties Strategy Explained
The Detroit Free Press offers clear analysis of the multiple ongoing efforts in Detroit to improve vacant and blighted properties and return them to the benefit of the city's neighborhoods and residents.
Land Bank Achieves Initial Success in Erie County, New York
The former steel town of Lackawanna, in Erie County, New York, is the latest beneficiary of the growing reach of land banks.
'High-Rent Blight' on the Rise in Manhattan Retail Districts
Why are so many shops closing in New York's richest and best-known neighborhoods?
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